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Why were the former BFFs not speaking?
By Maria Lianos-Carbone — Written on Feb 27, 2019
Is 2019 is the year of forgiveness for actress Jennifer Aniston? It seems the actress is burying the hatchet with several people from her past.
First, her ex-husband Brad Pitt was invited to her 50th birthday party earlier this month. The actor helped Jen celebrate her big milestone along with other A list guests including George Clooney, with wife Amal, Reese Witherspoon, Ellen DeGeneres, Demi Moore, Barbra Streisand, Kate Hudson and Gwyneth Paltrow. Justin Theroux, Jen’s other ex, also posted a sweet message to Jen on social media. Two days after Jennifer threw the star-studded birthday bash, Justin took to Instagram to wish his ex-wife a happy birthday. The pair separated one year ago but remain friendly.
"Happy Birthday to this fierce Woman. Fiercely loving. Fiercely kind. ....and fiercely funny," he captioned a picture of Jen holding a pair of bull horns above her head in a defiant pose that showed off her muscles. Last year, in a new interview with The New York Times, Justin revealed that the two went their separate ways without any hostility.
“The good news is that was probably the most — I’m choosing my words really carefully — it was kind of the most gentle separation, in that there was no animosity,” he explained. “Again, neither one of us is dead, neither one of us is looking to throw hatchets at each other. It’s more like, it’s amicable. It’s boring, but, you know, we respected each other enough that it was as painless as it could be.”
Now it seems her long-time feud with once BFF Chelsea Handler is officially over as well. A source reported to Straight Shutter podcast that Jen and once close gal pal Chelsea Handler are back on speaking terms.
"No one but Chelsea and Jen know what happened between the two of them, but whatever is it, they have both moved past it and are friends again!” said the source, who also noted that Chelsea was spotted at Jen’s birthday party. “If Jen can forgive Brad, she can find it in her heart to forgive Chelsea.”
What happened to the best friends? Here are five details about the Jennifer Aniston/Chelsea Handler feud.
1. Aniston and Handler were once super close.
In years past, Aniston and Handler had been best friends. The former Friends actress and the raunchy comedian were always seen and photographed spending girl-friend time together in public. The BFFs spent Thanksgiving together in Mexico in 2010. Chelsea gave some insight into their friendship in an interview in 2010.
"Jennifer Aniston makes me laugh. She's irreverent and hilarious, and she sends me really, really funny e-mails."
At one time, Aniston and Handler were so close that the talk show host was one of the few, exclusive guests at Aniston’s wedding to Justin Theroux in 2015.
2. Why did their friendship end?
The reason for their friendship ending points to one friend talking smack about another behind her back. According to Radar Online, Aniston believed that Handler had been talking about her behind her back, revealing secrets about her marriage to those who shouldn’t know about it. Aniston has been a somewhat private person, not revealing too much about her personal life. So Aniston freaked out after learning of Handler spilling the secrets about her private life, and no longer wanted anything to do with her.
“Jennifer found out that Chelsea was spilling secrets about her marriage, and talking behind her back,” a source close to the 42-year-old Chelsea star told Radar Online. “Everyone is surprised over this because they were such close friends, but Jen knew that it had to be someone really close to her that was talking — and found out it was Chelsea! When Jennifer found out, she flipped!”
An insider once said Jennifer treats her friendships as an “it’s me or her” type of way and put her foot down when she learned Chelsea had been adding to their BFF circle.
3. Jennifer shot back at Chelsea.
Aniston couldn’t leave the betrayal of friendship alone. After Jennifer found out about Chelsea talking behind her back, Aniston ordered her publicist, Stephen Huvane, to drop Handler as a client.
Huvane did end up dropping Handler as a client. An insider told Radar Online at the time that the publicist “dumped Chelsea after she had a huge blowup with Jennifer — one of his very top-priority clients."
"He’s no longer representing Chelsea.”
4. Handler felt horrible for her actions.
Handler definitely felt horrible about the feud, Radar Online reported. After being banned from Aniston’s elite A-list circle of friends, Chelsea revealed she was at fault for her falling out with Aniston.
“Chelsea knows that she really messed things up with her,” a source close to Handler said. “And the worst part is that now Jennifer has turned everyone against her.”
Aniston and Handler haven’t been photographed together in public since January 2015.
5. Chelsea moved on.
In an interview on The Howard Stern Show, Chelsea opened up about her falling out with Aniston, saying, “If you lie to me or you lie about me, I can’t take that. … I’m a really good friend and I expect the same in return.”
Chelsea also said she’d already replaced her famous BFF with other A-Listers like Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn, and Kurt Russell after the trio had partied it up during New Year’s Eve in Aspen, Colorado.
Maria Lianos-Carbone is author of "Oh Baby! A Mom's Self-Care Survival Guide for the First Year" and publisher of amotherworld.com.
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